Interviews w/ DreamWorks animated movie “The Bad Guys”, Cast members: Lilly Singh, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron & Craig Robinson, plus Director, Pierre Perifel. Out Now In Theaters! #TheBadGuys
In the new action comedy from DreamWorks Animation, based on the New York Times best-selling book series, a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws are about to attempt their most challenging con yet—becoming model citizens.
Never have there been five friends as infamous as The Bad Guys—dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf (Academy Award® winner Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), seen-it-all safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron, GLOW), chill master-of-disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine franchise), short-fused “muscle” Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) and sharp-tongued expert hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians), aka “Webs.”
But when, after years of countless heists and being the world’s most-wanted villains, the gang is finally caught, Mr. Wolf brokers a deal (that he has no intention of keeping) to save them all from prison: The Bad Guys will go good.
Under the tutelage of their mentor Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade, Paddington 2), an arrogant (but adorable!) guinea pig, The Bad Guys set out to fool the world that they’ve been transformed. Along the way, though, Mr. Wolf begins to suspect that doing good for real may give him what he’s always secretly longed for: acceptance. So when a new villain threatens the city, can Mr. Wolf persuade the rest of the gang to become … The Good Guys?
Via Christian Ortega (Movie Network PR/Periódico Primera Hora)
What were your influences when making this film?
Pierre Perifel:
Oh, well, I’m sure you picked quite a few of those. Yeah, I think I think you guys know it. But I think it was, you know, from the beginning what was the idea was to actually have kind of a little bit of a know of make this movie, a bit of a gateway for the family audience into the world of heist movies. And so therefore, you know, we kind of turned ourselves directly to the usual suspects, let’s say. So obviously, you know, it actually started with Don Chino really on that first cover of the cover of the first book was the those kind of five animals with those black suits.
And for me, was it Reservoir Dogs, you know, with a bit of a Blues Brothers twist to it. But it really was, you know, a little bit of a nod to to Tarantino cinema, which I, I love. But then how do you adapt this for kids? Tarantino carries a lot of swearing and blood and violence. So it was the balance was to actually, you know, find a way to just get them to to, you know, to appreciate that cinema. And so it was kind of a logical next move for us to to turn these criminals into these five, but into kind of gentleman thieves.
And then we, you know, that’s when it where we kind of turned ourselves to towards Danny Ocean and in Soderbergh’s movies and the Ocean franchise. And of course, there’s a bit of snatch to it like Gary Chee. But that came more out of, I mean, the cutting style of Gary. And I grew up with his name, which I always loved, you know, that complicated plot in twist. But also I think what really attracted me to Tarantino was the soundtrack. You know, he’s always got that amazing, you know, soundtrack in the music use of music in his films and Guy Ritchie kind of in Snatch at least did the same thing where it was like those seemingly like not working together, kind of string of songs that support the film.
And I kind of wanted to try something like this. So that was also the idea. So yeah, I mean, this is Soderbergh for sure. You know, the heist genre, like The Pure Heist or The Sting and all of these other ones Snatch and the bit. Tarantino, of course. And then on the animation side, you know, for me was to bring in the flavor of, you know, European animation style and little bit of anime too, you know, and kind of breaking the mold of what we usually see in American CGI animation, changing the design of the characters a little bit and even the rendering and bringing some more illustrative like graphic elements to it.
Via Felix Caraballo (Periódico Metro Puerto Rico/Telemundo Puerto Rico)
Coming to the animated world. How different was this project in terms of the locations, the recording, the isolation of the voices from the film, from your previous work?
Pierre Perifel:
Well, first of all, I never had been in that seat, you know, in the driver’s seat, not for such a big project anyway. And so it was the first time for me having to record actors of that caliber. And so in that sense, I think the process was very similar to the rest of the film we were making. The one thing that I wanted to try that was to get them more together, to record the voices and try to really play off each other because we were inspired by those live action films.
You know, I kind of wanted to make, you know, give justice to those with the dialogue that it had written and therefore have them play off of each other. And so we often recorded Sam and Mark together and Sam and Zazie as well, so that there was that interaction and they could also improvise. Not easy to do in animation because we are on the sound stage, in the sound booth and and they tend to overlap and then we can’t really edit those lines because that’s really a lot of the work in animation. You just, you know, you work from storyboard and you try to craft the performance.
Pierre Perifel:
So a lot of editing goes, goes in that. But what happened was COVID and thanks to the pandemic, we ended up having to record our actors in different parts of the country, sometimes in their own kind of sound studios and or even at home sometimes, which allowed us to actually just record them remotely. And then they could totally now overlap each other because we had separate soundtrack for each of them, which was great because they could completely, you know, interact and and play with the characters and play with the sequences and improvise and bring their own flavor and just the right pacing in the right rhythm.
That was fantastic because I got to witness some performances from these guys on my sofa and watching them play, and it was mind blowing. You know, these guys are like got talents, as you know. And when you see them, you know, be at the peak of their art and do it as naturally as you and I are speaking, it’s just it’s just it’s so, so inspiring. It’s incredible.
Via Rafy Mediavilla (Criticólogos)
I consider this movie a charming more animated version of Oceans 8, pun intended, did you see those elements of the story when you read the script? & what elements you felt you needed to stand out?
Pierre Perifel:
I think that whole side of the heist genre was not in that first draft. That’s. But weirdly enough, for me, that was the combination of reading the draft and seeing that art from Aaron that just like just it was obvious for me. And so therefore I kind of crafted a little trailer based on that script and based on my own inspiration just to show the studio that what I wanted to do with that genre that, you know, we just discussed about.
But what element of the script at this point while we went once we had figured this out was grounding and bit more the story, I mean, I don’t know if you guys have read the book yet, but the books but they. Aaron takes those books to some like very pushed extents. You know, you have like crazy like laser, you know, rays and whatnot. And so because we were seeing it into something a bit more grounded, like the heist genre, we had to ground the story a bit more.
So that was one element that we had to do. And the other thing was also making sure we also dove deeply enough into the character’s arc to really be able to relate to them and just make sure that we had, like we really were able to carry the theme of the story, which is, you know, giving a second chance to somebody who was who didn’t necessarily have a sick and just somebody who’s been doing bad things. And it’s a story of redemption, as you guys know. And so like diving a little deeper in the emotional side, it was probably, you know, more comedy than heart. And I think we wanted to rebalance that a little bit.
Via Christian Ortega (Movie Network PR/Periódico Primera Hora)
You’re obviously playing a couple of characters that are, you know, the bad guys, quote unquote. But what did you guys bring to these characters to make them likable?
Marc Maron:
Well, I think that was more for me. It was more in the writing, you know, because I don’t know, I kind of played the I played the lines. And I think what really made them likeable was the way it put us together and how we, you know, engage with each other. So, like, it wasn’t really on me in a way. Like, I was just playing it straight. And then all of a sudden, you know, you got to have this heart to heart with Wolf, or I got to tease him with a push up pop. And, you know, so those kind of actions, you know, engaging the characters in these certain ways, I think that’s what brought out the likeability and yeah, the sort of vulnerability of them. I think most of that was, was in the writing.
Craig Robinson:
I would have to agree the writing was, was, you know, crisp in it and it had us jumping on each other’s lines for the jokes on one scene comes to mind is like the cat in a tree. And it’s like, what are we going to do? Want to, you know, scratch them, strangle them, you know?
So the writing did bring out the jokes and the fun. And my character, I think is was one of the most is one of the easier, likable ones because he was getting played by Snake or he was, you know, delivering a baby for four foot to be a distraction. This is ridiculous.
Via Felix Caraballo (Periódico Metro Puerto Rico/Telemundo Puerto Rico)
Question for Marc: So how much did you enjoy recording the voice for this scene and the physical humor that the film has, which appeals to both children and adults?
Marc Maron:
Well, I liked it, you know, because me and Sam Rockwell were able to work together quite a bit during the making of it. There were several times where we were in person or over Zoom and, you know, with he was a very good straight man for me. So, you know, you kind of start to play around with that dynamic a little bit. He’s like the cool guy and I’m worked up all the time. So I think that really added to it. Was working off of him.
Via Rafy Mediavilla (Criticólogos)
Which character do you think is easier to project, A bad guy or a g good guy? Which one do you have the most fun interpreting? A good guy or a bad guy?
Marc Maron:
I think, you know, I probably have a better time being slightly bad. I don’t know, all bad. But I think to be a totally good guy, which I had to do in a movie recently. Yeah, it was. It was okay. But even that guy was flawed. And I think if there’s one thing we learn about good guys and bad guys is that they all have the flaws.
Craig Robinson:
Yeah. I’d prefer to be the bad guy. It’s like the rules don’t apply to you, and that’s. That’s all you need for to have fun. Yeah, I played it. I played old school. I played the anti-Christ in a movie called Rapture Palooza, and that’s one of the craziest, more freedom things I’ve ever done as far as live action, because that was just I knew there was nothing you could tell me. I was the Antichrist.
Via Christian Ortega (Movie Network PR/Periódico Primera Hora)
What are the challenges of playing such a complex and layered characters? Only with your voice.
Zazie Beetz:
I think that it’s like it was an element that drew me to this film. It was sort of unfolding the layers of Diane and. It’s much I would say it’s similar to like live acting, you know, you are thinking about the motivations and the context of why she is a certain way and making sure that her past is also integrated into her present. And, you know, I think that was quite imperative in this film for Diane.
And yeah, just working it out with the director and talking it out and just trying different things until something felt truthful and landed. So it’s yeah, it’s just it’s a fun process to figure out the character. But I would say similar to what I’m just doing, I guess a regular movie or something.
Lilly Singh:
I think for me, I wanted to make sure that Tiffany wasn’t just like surface level evil. Like, she wasn’t just being like, I have an agenda and I’m going to say this stuff to make these people see. I wanted it to be deeper than that. I want it to seem like she actually believed that stuff. And it was motivated by her desire to be like a really good reporter and to be first on the scene. And that’s why she prides herself so much and like breaking the story and getting that headline. And so I wanted it to be motivated in that so that you could kind of see her point of view that this is not just someone who is here to paint people as the bad guys is that she her success is kind of tied up with these headlines as well.
Via Felix Caraballo (Periódico Metro Puerto Rico/Telemundo Puerto Rico)
As an animated movie, how is the energy in the recording booth, how do you transmit that energy? Do you throw punches or kicks or how is that that that energy?
Zazie Beetz:
I’d say my favorite part of doing voiceover work is when you do the efforts. And those are all like then you get pages of like grunt and now scream and that’s what you are doing. Sort of like those action bits where you. Yeah, oh yeah. Oh, oh, oh lifting. So yeah, those are efforts now all together. And so I think that’s where the action stuff comes in. But besides that, I would say recording in a studio is not action packed.
Lilly Singh:
it’s not action packed, but I actually record every session. I was alone, so I was with no one. So the trick I use is I don’t have much action in the movie, but I did pretend to hold a microphone every single time. If I had to run up to someone, I would actually run in the booth. I think I tried to emulate exactly what’s happening in the scene, but yeah, it is. I think I think the action, honestly, I’m just gonna give all the credit to the animators that really comes from the animators is doing a really great job and having a strong vision.
Via Rafy Mediavilla (Criticólogos)
To what characteristics of your animal characters do you relate to? & If you could play any other animal for the story which one would it be?
Zazie Beetz:
I really like Diane’s playfulness. I think she’s kind of, you know, Pierre always called her sort of a nerd. And, you know, she’s really into this, like, fun tech stuff. And I think I have my, like, very unique, weird, specific interests as well that I’m really into. And I and I liked that about her. I thought she was sort of this she knew who she was and she went for it. And I hope I embody that. And any other animal character in the movie or in the world.
Via Rafy Mediavilla (Criticologos)
From the story?
Zazie Beetz:
From the Story. I really like Mr. Snake. I think that he is really sort of struggling emotionally in this film and I think, you know, is having a very complicated battle of loyalty and friendship and betrayal in a way that feels very emotional. And I’m just yeah, I was very intrigued by his character.
See our side of the interviews below:
Trailer:
